|
When a university professor becomes possessed by the ancient
twin demons of Thunder and Lightning after opening a forbidden
scroll, the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defence team
of Hellboy, researcher Kate Corrigan and psychic Russell Thorne
is sent to Japan to investigate the incident. There, Hellboy
discovers the Sword of Storms, a cursed samurai artefact that
transports him to an alternative supernatural dimension inhabited
by evil spirits and grotesque monsters. As Hellboy struggles
to defeat the numerous creatures he encounters before finding
his way back home, his BPRD cohorts, the pyrokinetic Liz Sherman
and the amphibian Abe Sapien find they, too, have their hands
full with a variety of monsters that have been unleashed on
earth...
Hellboy
Animated: Sword of Storms sees the latest evolution in
the Hellboy franchise as our hero stars in his first
full length animated TV movie. This project is the brainchild
of the characters original comic book creator, Mike Mignola,
and director of the live action Hellboy movie, Guillermo
del Toro. So, before you view it, you already know that it
has the official thumbs up of the original creator, and director
of the movie. And, if that wasn't enough to ensure that fans
of both the movie and comic series are drawn to this animated
feature, the movie's original actors also provide the voices
to this animated version.
It
was interesting to hear, on the audio commentary, how the
writers had cleaned up some of the Japanese legends in order
to get past the censors. One of the Japanese stories mentions
a box full of eyeballs (this was testicles in the original
text), while another talks of a sea creature that would reach
up and stick it's hand up a man's anus and rip out his insides...
um... lovely! Thankfully this was left out of this kid-friendly
movie.
However,
it would seem that no one bothered to check the extras for
adult content. Guillermo del Toro manages to say the "F"
word twice on the Keepers of Hellboy featurette. Not
sure it would have received a 12 certificate if the censors
had spotted that. Although, I doubt many 12 year olds will
want to watch an interview panel at a comic convention.
Fans
of Mignola's original comic book series may spot a nod to
his Thunder and Lightning demons from the The
Right Hand of Doom graphic novel - both feature
in the sketch book at the back of the collection, even though
they look very different to the versions that appear in Sword
of Storms.
It
was also interesting to learn that Abe and Liz originally
only appeared in a couple of scenes. The majority of their
scenes were added later as the script was running a little
short.
Extras
are pretty impressive too. These include an audio commentary
with Mike Mignola (Hellboy creator), Tad Stones (supervising
producer/director) and Phil Weinstein (director); Keepers
of Hellboy (42:30 min featurette which is a recording
of a panel interview from the San Diego Comic Con; A New
Breed (5 min look at the stylistic direction of the animated
movie); A View From the Top (5:30 min look at the flying
head sequence - which was taken from Mignola's early Hellboy
comic book The Right Hand of Doom); Conquering Hellboy:
The Actors Role (6:30 featurette that interviews the voice
actors); Hellboy Goes East - Prop Prefecture
/ Origins / Samurai Songs (three short featurettes
(2-3 mins each) which cover Japanese prop research, the origins
of the Japanese storyline and a look at the Japanese inspired
soundtrack); and a collection of trailers for other releases.
Hellboy
fans will love this movie, as will children who have never
even heard of Hellboy before.
Darren
Rea
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below
to purchase this item.
|
|
|
£14.99
(Amazon.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£11.99
(Play.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£17.99
(Play.com)
Play Exclusive With Comic and 3 Hellboy Figuines
|
| |
|
|
|
£9.99
(HMV.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£9.99
(HMV.co.uk)
HMV Exclusive Cover Design |
| |
|
|
|
£10.99
(Sendit.com) |
| |
|
|
|
£10.99
(Bensons-world.co.uk) |
| |
|
|
|
£10.97
(Thehut.com) |
All prices correct at time of going to press.
|
|
